


Et Rubeum Auri: Annus Primus

by drarrynox



Series: Et Rubeum Auri [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Draco hates everyone, F/F, F/M, Golden Trio, Gryffindor! Draco, Hogwarts, M/M, Multi, bc its first year and Harry isn't really close with draco a lot is similar to canon, but I have made some changes, first year, harry is nice to draco, ron hates draco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23541790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drarrynox/pseuds/drarrynox
Summary: “Malfoy, Draco,” Professor McGonagall, a tall, stern looking witch called out, reading off the parchment. Ron nudgedThe blonde boy from the train swaggered up to the stage with an air of hubris and a smirk on his face. He sat down on the stool, and before the Hat had even touched his head, it shouted,“SLY - No, wait.”a fanfic of Harry's time in Hogwarts in which Draco is not a Slytherin, but a Gryffindor.
Relationships: no relationships for now this is first year guys
Series: Et Rubeum Auri [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694191
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	1. The Sorting

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Welcome to my first ever actual fic! I've wanted to write a fic for so long yet constantly just lacked the time, so due to self-isolation, I decided there's no time like the present!
> 
> The events leading up to where I start occur the same in canon, so if you want to read that first feel free to.
> 
> Credit to J.K Rowling.

After being seated at the Gryffindor table, Harry was relieved that the attention had wavered from him back to the sorting. He zoned out for some time, looking around the castle in awe, his attention only being brought back to the sorting when he heard a familiar name.

“Malfoy, Draco,” Professor McGonagall, a tall, stern looking witch called out, reading off the parchment. Ron nudged

The blonde boy from the train swaggered up to the stage with an air of hubris and a smirk on his face. He sat down on the stool, and before the Hat had even touched his head, it shouted,

“SLY - No, wait.”

The entire audience gasped, and Harry looked up to the stage. Draco’s lips had fallen, and his eyes widened as he began to internally debate with the hat. The argument seemed to go back and forth for an extraordinarily long time, before the Hat shrieked,

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Somehow, Draco had paled further, however it was unbeknownst to Harry how that was possible. The crowd had erupted into chatter, whispering fiercely to one another, and when Harry looked across to the Slytherin table, there were a multitude of Slytherin’s scowling, including a pug-nosed girl who had been sorted not long after Harry. The Professor took the Hat off his head, and he slunk down to Gryffindor table, sitting opposite Harry but not acknowledging anyone’s presence. Ron stifled a laugh, turning it into a cough, at the contrast in Draco’s behaviour.

More of Harry’s fellow First Years were sorted, the only notable ones being Neville Longbottom, who was sorted into Gryffindor, after taking almost five whole minutes, and,

“Granger, Hermione.”

Harry noticed it was the girl with the bushy hair from the train. Harry hoped she wasn’t in Gryffindor, as from their encounter she had seemed rather bossy. She appeared to be in an argument with the Hat, until it finally called out,

“GRYFFINDOR!”

He clapped his hands in a polite applause, joining in with the rest of the crowd as she made her way to the Gryffindor table. He could hear Ron sigh next to him, murmuring,

“Bloody mental, that one. Thought she’d go to Ravenclaw.”

“At least she won’t be in our dorm,” Harry replied, looking for a positive. Privately, Harry thought he would rather room with her than be back at the Dursley’s.

She sat down opposite Ron and Harry gave her a diplomatic smile, which she gratefully returned. Ron nudged Harry and raised his eyebrows questioningly, which Harry responded with a shrug,

“I’m just being nice, Ron.”

Ron rolled his eyes but didn’t push it further.

Hannah Abbott was the last person to be sorted, beaming as she was sent into Hufflepuff.

Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster, stood up,

“Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts. I know how hungry you all are, so I will keep my speech short, in fact- just a few words.” Harry rolled his eyes, knowing that every time a teacher said their speech was short, it went on for at least twenty minutes. Dumbledore continued,

“Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak.” Harry stared for a few moments in bewilderment, until Ron nudged him, causing him to look down.

Harry’s eyes widened as he saw all the food on the table. There was so much of everything! Mash potato, carrots, roast beef, peas, and gravy. Harry’s stomach growled at the sight of all these foods, so he began to fill up his plate with everything he could.

After the first few bites, he heard an Irish boy initiate a conversation,

“I’m half an’ half,” He remarked, “Me dad’s a muggle, and mam’s a witch. ‘Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out.”

Harry laughed along the others and looked around, seeing Draco Malfoy stare at the boy with a look of disgust.

“I was ever so shocked to get my letter,” Hermione Granger replied, “Neither of my parents are magical.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry swore he saw Draco shift ever so slightly away from her. He had barely touched his food, just prodding it with his fork.

Not long after Ron finished his second plate of food, the roast was replaced with dessert. There was a myriad of pies, tarts, cakes, and puddings, and Harry was happy he didn’t take an extra helping of dinner.

He loaded his plate up with a dessert Ron had called Treacle Tart, as well as a small chocolate cake in the shape of a cauldron. He found he especially enjoyed the former, and made room in his stomach to eat another serving of it.

Harry looked up to the teachers table, and saw a variety of odd-looking wizards. There was a very small man chatting to a older dumpy woman sporting a yellow cardigan. They were next to a woman with hawk-like amber eyes, who was talking to a man covered in scars and missing a forearm. Next to them sat Professor McGonagall, who Harry learnt was the Head of Gryffindor House, leaning up to Professor Dumbledore as he whispered something in her ear.

On Dumbledore’s other side, Hagrid was laughing merrily to something the witch next to him was saying. Harry’s eyes skimmed over to the end of the table, where next to Professor Quirrell, a pale man with long, greasy hair and a hooked nose caught his eye and curled his lip.

“Ow!” Harry clapped his hand to his forehead. His scar had burst in pain for a moment, before fading.

“What’s wrong, Harry?” Ron asked over a mouthful of cake.

“Oh.” Harry paused, taken aback. “Nothing,” He replied, forcing a smile.

At the end of the feast, Dumbledore stood up again and spoke about some rules, including the Forbidden Forest and the Third Floor Corridor which was also banned. They then sang the school song, and Percy Weasley, Ron’s older brother, guided the First Year Gryffindors up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Harry walked alongside Ron, and the pair were chatting to the Irish boy, who’s name turned out to be Seamus Finnegan, and a tall boy with dark skin, named Dean Thomas. In front of them, Hermione Granger was talking to Neville Longbottom, who was mainly listening and nodding along. There were some other girls ahead of Hermione and Neville who were giggling with each other, one with blonde curls, the other with long silky hair and dark skin, a similar colour to Harry’s. It was only as they stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady that Harry remembered Draco Malfoy had trailed them the entire time, yet to say a word to anyone.

They climbed up the staircase into the dorms, and Ron flopped straight onto a bed, so Harry sat down on the one next to it. Their trunks immediately appeared, and the boys began unpacking.

Opposite Harry lay Dean, and on Dean’s left Seamus had already managed to fling his belongings all over his bed. On Dean’s other side there was Neville, which left Draco next to Harry. Neither boy seemed happy about this arrangement.

After unpacking, Harry yawned goodnight to everyone, only to realise that Neville had fallen asleep halfway though unpacking, and Draco’s curtains were already closed. The other three boys said goodnight back and they all retreated into their beds. Harry had just lay down when he heard someone sniffling.

He sat up and opened his curtains, trying to figure out which bed the noise was coming from. He tiptoed around the room, listening to it to see where it was loudest, and stopped when he got to Draco’s bed.

Harry was about to go back to his own bed, because it was Malfoy and he was a prat to Ron on the train, but something stopped him so he crept over and peeked his head through the curtains. Draco looked up, and Harry could see his eyes were puffy and red.

“Piss off Potter,” Draco said weakly.

Harry ignored him and climbed onto the bed.

“I said piss off.”

“And I ignored you,” Harry retorted. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” Draco sniffed, wiping his nose with his sleeve. Harry quietly snorted,

“And you were crying then because…” 

Draco remained silent.

“Look Malfoy, I know you don’t like me, and I don’t particularly like you,” Harry started.

“Then why are you here?” Draco snapped defensively.

“Because, if you will let me finish,” Harry continued, “you were crying, and I don’t want to listen to anyone crying alone.” He purposefully left out the part where his crying was consistently ignored by the Dursleys.

“I was meant to be in Slytherin,” Draco sighed, “Yet I’m stuck in stupid Gryffindor. Mother and Father are going to be so angry.” He sniffed again, and wiped his nose.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do! It’s been drilled into me since I was a baby!” Draco shot back. He rubbed his eyes, and grabbed his blanket. “They’re going to hate me. Maybe even disown me.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t,” Harry tried, yawning. Draco interrupted him,

“Shut up Potter, you don’t know my family.” He had a point, Harry thought. “Just, go to bed. I don’t want to deal with you right now.”

Harry sighed and retired to his own bed. He was so tired that Draco’s situation left his mind completely, and he drifted off to sleep, dreaming about Chocolate Frogs and Treacle Tart.


	2. The Big First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Draco receives a letter home, Harry starts his classes, and Ron and Draco have a fight which Harry gets caught in the middle of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might look shorter because there is less dialogue but the word count is about the same as the last one.  
> Also, McGonagall's lecture is the same one from the books, but everything else is original.

Harry was the first to rise the next morning. While he waited for his dorm mates to wake up, he opened his Charms textbook and read the first chapter again. One by one, his fellow Gryffindors woke up and he joined them in getting ready for the day.

Harry, Ron and Neville walked down to breakfast together, discussing their classes for the day, when Harry looked around and noticed that he was getting a lot of stares.

“Er, Ron,” Harry asked, “Why is everyone staring at us.”

“There staring at you, Harry.”

“Why, they saw me last night.”

“Just ignore it Harry.”

They walked into the Great Hall and sat down opposite Hermione, who was already pouring over a thick book entitled _Hogwarts, a History._ After Ron took his first bite, Harry grabbed two pieces of toast and started to butter them. Seamus and Dean joined them not long after, and Malfoy came in trailing behind the duo.

The First Years all were eating their Breakfast and chatting merrily, when a parliament of owls flew down onto all the tables, dropping off mail for everyone. Ron received a letter from Mrs Weasley, Seamus received one from what Harry assumed was his mother, as well as Dean and Neville.

Draco also was sent a letter, however he didn’t look nearly as pleased when reading it.

He shoved the letter in his bag, abruptly stood up, and stormed out of the Great Hall. The table had gone silent, that was, until Seamus split pumpkin juice down his robes, and the table erupted with laughter.

“Should we go check up on him?” Harry whispered to Ron.

“Are you barmy Harry? He’s Malfoy.”

“He’s in Gryffindor.

“So?”

“He’s one of us, now. He might be a git but we’re going to have to live with him for 7 years, we might as well try to get along.”

“If you care so much, you go then.”

So Harry did just that.

Harry walked up to the Gryffindor Common Room, and then up to his dormitory, where he found Draco sobbing on the bed.

“Hey Malfoy,” Harry said awkwardly as he entered, earning a glare from Draco. He walked over to Draco’s bed and sat down next to him. Harry wasn’t the best at dealing with crying people, he realised, as he didn’t say anything else, but sat there, letting Draco’s muffled cries fill the silence.

Draco sniffed, and if he hadn’t just been crying Harry would’ve thought he just stepped in dung. He uncrumpled the letter in his lap and read it out dramatically.

_Draco,_

_You have majorly disappointed us. Not only have you been the first Malfoy in two centuries to not be a Slytherin, you have been sorted into Gryffindor, with mudbloods, half-breeds, and blood traitors alike._

_We will be seriously watching your behaviour, and if we find it to become unbecoming of a Malfoy, we will not hesitate to pull you out of Hogwarts and send you to Durmstrang._

_Sincerely,_

_Mother and Father_

Harry didn’t understand many of the words in the letter, privately wondering what a mudblood and a blood traitor were. He didn’t voice these questions, instead awkwardly patting Draco on the leg as the blond burst into tears once again.

Harry wasn’t sure why he was comforting him, because Malfoy was a prat and had insulted his new best friend just the day before. But he remained, sitting there, partly because he pitied Draco, partly because he felt it would be rude to leave now.

Once Draco had stopped crying, Harry grabbed his book bag and stood at the door, waiting for Draco to join him.

“Go ahead Potter. I can’t be seen with you.”

Harry headed to Transfiguration, speculating why Draco couldn’t be around him in public. He assumed it was something to do with the letter, but didn’t understand how it was ‘unbecoming’ to be friends with him.

Not long after he had arrived, Harry noticed Draco walk in, taking a seat at the front. Hermione Granger sat down next to him, and Draco visibly shifted away.

Harry was already seated in class with his quill, ink and parchment laid out on the desk when Ron showed up, late and panting. Harry laughed and rolled his eyes. Ron sat down in the seat next to Harry, pulling out his books. He huffed,

“At least McGonagall isn’t here yet. Can you imagine the look on her face if I was late to my first class?”

Harry was just about to point out that the cat sitting on the Professor’s desk _is_ McGonagall, but was beat to it when the cat transformed in front of their eyes. Ron’s face fell and his ears turned red.

“Sorry I’m late Professor. I got lost.” He mumbled, embarrassed.

Professor McGonagall eyed him sternly and began her lecture.

“Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,” she said. “Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned”

She delved into types of Transfiguration and the theory behind simple Transfiguration, and Harry wrote a lot of notes, none of which made any sense to him. At the end of the lesson, she gave them a matchstick to turn into a needle. Out of the entire class, only Hermione and Draco had managed to do the transfiguration. Harry’s was silver, but nowhere near pointy enough. Ron’s however, didn’t even change colour, so Harry felt he couldn’t complain.

The next class they had was Herbology, which Harry discovered was taught by Professor Sprout, the dumpy sort of woman from the Feast. Hermione earned five points for Gryffindor for answering a question about the difference between magical and non-magical plants, and, much to Hermione’s annoyance, two of those points were lost by Seamus for talking out of turn.

They then had a break, which Ron used to teach Harry how to play Wizard’s chess. Harry discovered he was quite terrible at it, however he didn’t mind watching as Ron checkmated Neville in record time.

At lunch, Harry watched in amazement as Ron filled his plate completely with shepherd’s pie, and promptly ate all of it. Taking slow bites of his own pie, Harry listened to the conversation around him, which consisted of Seamus interrogating the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, and causing him to rip almost his entire head off. Harry laughed along with the others, but didn’t have much of an appetite after that.

In the afternoon, the First Year Gryffindors had History of Magic, which Harry decided was the most boring class. It was taught by Professor Binns, a ghost. When they had left the class, Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean were complaining about how they almost fell asleep.

“I think I know how Binns died,” Ron remarked with a grin. “He bored himself to death!”

The four boys sniggered, and continued walking to the Gryffindor tower.

When they reached the Tower, Dean and Seamus flopped onto one of the couches in the common room. Harry and Ron trudged up the stairs to their dormitory, as Ron had wanted to grab some extra parchment.

Harry followed Ron up, walking into him as Ron came to an abrupt stop.

“What are you staring at, Weasley? Looking for some gold? I wouldn’t be surprised - gold’s a fleeting thing in a household like yours” Harry heard Draco’s sneer from the other side of Ron.

“I’d rather be poor than having to try cozy up to dear Mummy and Daddy after not being in Slytherin.” Ron snapped back.

This had clearly struck a nerve within Draco. His hand snatched his wand from the bed, and he stood up, strutting defensively over to Ron.

“We haven’t learnt any offensive magic yet, Malfoy, what are you going to do? Turn me into a needle?” Ron taunted, but had taken a step back, which let Harry dart to the side and through the gap into the dorm.

“Leave him alone, Malfoy.”

“Leave _him_ alone?” Draco asked, incredulous. “He started it!”

Ron retook his ground. “It was you that bloody started it!” He shouted over Harry, his ears once again turning red.

Harry sensed that Ron was about to get physical, hearing one too many times about how he would like to “punch the poncey smirk off of Malfoy’s face.”

“Ron, don’t,” Harry warned him. “And Malfoy - if you don’t stop being a prat, it won’t be just your family that hates you."

“Fuck you, Potter.” Draco pushed past Harry and stalked out the room. Harry was shocked at the language - of course, he heard Uncle Vernon scream it at him, but he never imagined the eleven-year-old to say it too.

“That was brilliant, Harry!” Ron was grinning. “I can’t believe you just got him like that!”

Harry blushed. He felt bad about what he had said, using the information that Draco had revealed to him in confidence against him, but he wasn’t about to admit that to Ron.

“Yeah,” Harry mumbled back, “I guess I did.” He gave Ron a weak smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Harry is a little bit of a bitch in this one but it gets resolved fairly quickly.  
> 


	3. Potions, Flying and Hagrid's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, welcome to my third chapter.  
> A few things here have been taken from the books, namely Snape's speech and the article about Gringotts.  
> hope you enjoy!

During Friday morning’s owl post, Harry received his first letter. He had trouble deciphering the messy scrawl, but eventually made it though the letter. It was an invite from Hagrid to go to lunch that day. Harry grabbed out his parchment, quill, and ink, and scribbled out a response, saying

_Yes please, I will see you at lunch._

_From Harry._

Harry invited Ron to come with him, who accepted as he had heard stories about Hagrid from his brothers.

“Be weary of his cooking,” Ron warned him.

Once breakfast had finished, the boys grabbed their bags and headed to their first class of the day: Potions.

Harry had been dreading his double Potions class all week. Ever since he caught the greasy-haired professor’s eye at the Feast, he knew the professor hated him. Since then, Harry had discovered that the professor was indeed Professor Snape, the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin.

The five Gryffindor boys, excluding Draco, walked down to the cold and slimy dungeons. Harry trailed behind Ron, Seamus, and Dean, whilst Neville told him about how he heard you could use Herbology in Potions. Harry was wallowing in his nerves too much to be listening, but politely nodded when it felt appropriate.

It was their only class with the Slytherins, so Harry was unsurprised to see Malfoy paired off with his cronies from the train. Harry took the seat next to Ron, and the two of them were opposite Seamus and Dean. Down the row, Neville was paired with Hermione, who was frantically re-reading the textbook.

The class fell silent as a black figure strode to the front of the classroom, robes billowing behind.

“There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don’t expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few… Who possess, the predisposition… I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death.”

Harry was taking notes, scribbling furiously in an attempt to get everything down.

“Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention! Mister Potter. Our new celebrity.”

Harry’s head snapped up, and he turned slightly red at the realisation that he had been singled out.

“Yes, sir?” He asked meekly, trying to cause as little tension as possible.

“What would I get if I added a powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Harry looked blankly at Ron, seeing if he had any idea. Ron shrugged.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“And where would I find a bezoar?”

“I don’t know, Sir. Have you tried the cupboard?”

Snape’s lip curled. “One point from Gryffindor for you cheek, Potter. Now tell me, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

Harry, not in the mood to be picked on by his Professor, decided to take a different route.

“Are you sure they’re not the same thing, Professor?” Harry asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Snape was taken aback. Apparently, Harry was right. Snape pulled himself back together and went on with the class.

“That was bloody brilliant, Harry!” Ron exclaimed as they were setting up their cauldron. Harry smiled back and was about to reply, when Snape interrupted.

“Nice try, Potter, however pairing with Weasley would cause devastating effects on any attempt at a potion. Potter, go partner with Mr Malfoy. Weasley, Mr Crabbe.”

“But Sir,” Ron began.

“No buts, Weasley, now!”

Harry grabbed his belongings and trudged over to the desk at which Draco was located.

Draco seemed even less happy than Harry about this pairing, if such a feat was possible. Harry broke the silence looming between the two of them,

“So, do you want me to cut the ingredients?” He suggested awkwardly.

“What do you think you’re playing at, Potter?” Draco snapped at him.

“Look Malfoy, we have to do this or Snape will kill us.”

“Fine,” Draco huffed. “But _I_ get to do all the important stuff. I don’t want you messing up my potion, Potter.”

“Fine."

The two boys got to work on the potion, Harry letting Draco take control, and by the end they had produced a fairly good boil-cure. When Snape passed their table, he gave them a slight nod, although he looked like he would much rather have yelled at Harry once again. Harry and Ron left the class, grumbling about Snape and his blatant favouritism towards the Slytherins.

Their next class was one that Harry had been looking forward to all week.

“Flying lessons, Ron!”

“Yes Harry, you’ve said.” Ron sighed, for the third time that day, as they trudged down to the Quidditch Pitch. Harry had learnt that Quidditch was the best Wizarding sport, according to Ron, and used a combination of brooms, bats, hoops, and balls of three different sizes. Each Hogwarts house had a separate Quidditch team, and each year they fought for the Quidditch cup.

The Gryffindor and Slytherin first years met Madam Hooch, the woman with the amber eyes from the Feast, in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. They all stood next to a broom, Harry in between Ron and Hermione Granger. Oddly enough, Draco had voluntarily stood on Hermione's other side. They were told to hold their hand over the broom, and command it“Up!”, watching as Madam Hooch’s broom flew to her hands.

Harry copied her action, and amazingly, did it on his first attempt. Ron was less lucky, however, and Harry couldn’t help but laugh when Ron’s broom soared up, only to hit him in the head before falling straight back onto the ground. He looked around, realising that many of the class had a similar success, or lack thereof.

They mounted their brooms, but before they could even kick off the ground, Neville was wobbling on his broom, five feet in the air. It seemed he had lost control of his broom - even when instructed to, he couldn’t come down.

The broom kept on rising, until it stopped, and bucked Neville off, causing him to have a harsh landing on the ground.

“Broken wrist,” Madam Hooch muttered as she lifted him. “Poor dear.”

She took him to the hospital wing, but not before she warned the class that anyone found in the air would be out of this school before they can pronounce ‘Quidditch.’

Naturally, Harry found himself flying in the air, soaring to catch Neville’s Rememberall that Theodore Nott, a dark haired Slytherin, had thrown. He had managed to convince Draco to put it down, after he had originally picked it up to taunt his fellow Gryffindors, only for Nott to scoop it up and get on his broom with it.

Harry managed to catch the ball, just as he was tumbling off his broom onto the grass. The Gryffindors cheered, but fell silent as the turned around and saw Professor McGonagall standing at one end of the pitch.

“That was an extremely foolish thing to do, Mr Potter.” Her lips were extremely thin. “Come with me.”

Harry hung his head as he walked over to her, the Slytherins’ distant laughter ringing in his ears. When he met her, she set off and he followed her, to what he recognised was the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. She politely asked Professor Quirrell for “Wood”, which he discovered was a fifth year student and not something she was going to beat him with.

“Wood, I have found you a seeker!” Her stern face broke, and her lips cracked into a smile.

-=—=—=-

After meeting Ron back at the Quidditch pitch, he told Ron about the news of being made Seeker.

“Seeker? But you’re a first year! First years never make the team!” Harry shrugged. “You must be the youngest seeker in -“

“A century!”

Ron rambled about Quidditch as the pair walked down to Hagrid’s hut for lunch. Upon arrival, they knocked on the door, when they heard a dog’s bark.

“Fang!” Hagrid reprimanded the dog as the larger man let them in, serving them rock cakes and offering tea. Harry bit into one of the rock cakes, and he felt like his tooth had almost chipped off. While Hagrid was busying himself preparing the tea, Harry whispered to Ron,

“Are these actual rocks?”

Ron shrugged and suppressed a snicker.

When Hagrid sat down with the tea, Harry and Ron recapped their first week of classes, including the Potion’s lesson with Snape, the flying lesson with Nott, and Seamus blowing up his goblet whilst attempting to turn his water into rum. Hagrid had a good chuckle hearing the shenanigans of their first week of school.

Hagrid was in the middle of telling Ron about the time his older brother, Fred, dislocated his shoulder when him and his twin, George, were attempting to touch the base of the Whomping Willow, when Harry noticed the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ on the table.

**_GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST_ **

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark witches or wizards unknown._

_Gringotts’ Goblins insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day_

_‘But we’re not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what’s good for you,’ said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon._

‘Hagrid!' Harry cried. "This was the day we were in Gringotts!”

Hagrid didn’t meet his eye, giving it away to Harry that something was up. He thought back to vault 713, and the small package that Hagrid had taken from the vault. It then clicked in his head.

“Ron!” Harry exclaimed as they were walking back up to the castle. “The vault that was broken into - that was the one that Hagrid and I went to!”

Ron snorted. “Bloody hell, Harry. I think you’ve gone mad.”

“I’m serious, Ron!”

“Okay, okay!” Ron sighed, and rolled his eyes. “Say it was the same vault. Who cares?”

“Hagrid said it was official ‘Hogwarts business.’ Do you think whatever they were trying to steal is at Hogwarts?”

“It _is_ the safest place in Britain.” Ron relented.

“See! What if the person who wanted to steal it tries to come to Hogwarts!” Harry took a deep breath. “What if it’s -“

“Snape.” Ron finished, wide eyed. Harry nodded solemnly.


	4. Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments on the last chapter - it means so much and really inspires me to keep on writing! Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

“Congrats on seeker, Harry!” One of the twins, George, Harry thought, said to him as he was walking down to the Quidditch pitch.

Earlier that day, Harry had received his flying broom in the owl post, a _Nimbus Two Thousand_ it was called. It caused a stir up with one of his classmates, namely Malfoy, who tried to get him into trouble with Professor Flitwick. Luckily for Harry, Flitwick had already heard about Harry getting on the team.

Harry met Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, down at the pitch, where he had a small trunk open. Inside the trunk contained three different types of balls, one large red ball called a Quaffle, two medium sized balls called Bludgers, and one small Golden Snitch. Harry learnt that his role was to catch the Snitch, which ended the game and scored him 150 points for his team. He also learnt about the roles of the other players in the team, the Chasers, Beaters and the Keeper.

After this introduction, the rest of the team came down onto the pitch. The three Chasers were Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell, who was only a second year. The Weasley twins were the Beaters, and Wood was the Keeper.

“Morning Wood!” The twins chanted at Oliver, causing the girls to giggle and Oliver to roll his eyes. Harry looked around in confusion, not understanding the joke. Angelina picked up on this, and said,

“Don’t worry Harry, with these two you will learn very quickly.” She gestured at Fred and George, and the team erupted in more laughter.

“Alright team, thats enough corrupting Harry. He’s only a-,” Oliver began.

“Firstie, yes Wood you’ve told us a hundred times this morning.” Alicia finished for him, smirking.

Oliver rolled his eyes and continued, “Lets start with five laps.”

The team hopped onto their brooms and started flying around the pitch, before moving onto drills and then a half game. While the others were playing against each other, Oliver released a snitch for Harry to chase around the pitch. By the time practice had finished, Harry had caught it four times.

After everyone landed, Wood told them that this year they were going to do a stretch cool down this year to avoid injuries. Katie immediately slid into the splits, and while Harry was impressed, the rest of the team were shaking their heads at her.

Harry carefully followed as Wood demonstrated the stretches, glancing at him every so often to make sure that he was doing it correctly. When Oliver stretched upwards, a little bit of pale skin peeked out, causing the girls to giggle. Harry found his cheeks to be warm, but he assumed it was from the sun.

—=—=—

In Charms class the next day, Professor Flitwick assigned seats, meaning that Harry was paired with Draco whilst Ron was paired with Hermione. Neither of these four were happy about this arrangement.

“Potter.” He glared at Harry.

“Malfoy,” Harry returned, an eyebrow raised.

Ever since the fight in the dormitory, the tension was thick between the two boys.

They were finally practising the levitation spell, _Wingardium Leviosa._ Harry couldn’t seem to get the spell, but he was just glad he didn’t set his feather on fire like Seamus did. He swore he saw it twitch a few times, too!

As he continued practising, he heard Hermione’s overbearing voice instructing Ron on how to do it.

“It’s _Levi - O - sa_ , not _Levios-A,”_ She told him.

“You do it then, if you’re so bloody clever,” He replied with a frown.

Hermione promptly took her wand, did the spell, and the feather in front of her slowly lifted into the air. Professor Flitwick announced her achievement to the entire class, and Harry thought he saw a look of pride on Draco’s face. He did a double-take and Draco’s face was back to its usual scowl. He must of imagined it, then.

Ron was complaining about Hermione all the way back to the dormitory. She overheard him, however, and pushed past them, tears flooding out her eyes as she disappeared in front of them. Ron looked at him and shrugged, and Harry replied by rolling his eyes at Ron.

“You’ve got to be more sensitive, mate,” Harry informed him.

“Says you, Harry. Do you even remember what you said to Malfoy the other day?”

“Okay yeah, but that was Malfoy. He’s a prat,” Harry sighed. “She hasn’t even done anything to you except correct your pronunciation.”

“But she’s a bossy little know-it-all!”

Harry rolled his eyes again.

—=—=—

Harry was especially excited for the Halloween feast - he had never celebrated Halloween before! Of course - Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had taken Dudley ‘trick or treating’, but Harry was never allowed to come with them. One year, when they had returned, Harry had accidentally levitated some of Dudley’s sweets into his cupboard. He was locked in the cupboard for three days for that incident.

This year, however, Harry’s Aunt and Uncle couldn’t stop him from gorging himself with sweets. Sure, he might be eating Pumpkin Pasties and Treacle Tart instead of Mars Bars, but he wasn’t about to complain.

The smell of the Feast cooking had been making Harry’s stomach rumble all day. That didn’t fade, in fact it increased by tenfold when Harry arrived with Ron to the Great Hall for the Feast. The food was spectacular - all different kinds of meats and vegetables. Harry had noticed, whilst he eating, that Hermione had not shown up to the feast.

“Where’s Hermione?” He asked the group of First Years. A few of them shrugged, and Lavender Brown, the girl with blonde curls, opened her mouth to answer when she was interrupted by the person Harry would’ve expected least.

“She’s in the bathroom crying about what Weasley said to her today,” Draco sneered at Harry.

Harry felt guilty, but Ron was oblivious to the conversation, and when Harry looked over to him, he was munching on a piece of chicken. Harry shook his head and was about to reply, when Professor Quirrell burst into the Great Hall.

“TROLL!” He cried. “Troll, in the dungeons! Thought I ought to let you all know.” After this commotion, he, as if on cue, fainted.

The hall was silent for a moment, until the entire student body burst out into screams. It was chaos - no one could hear what anyone was saying, and people were standing up trying to leave the hall. It took Dumbledore using a spell to elevate his voice for him to be heard.

“QUIET!” He yelled. The entire Hall hushed, allowing Dumbledore to continue. “Prefects - lead your houses to their dormitories.”

The Prefects stood up and began instructing the noisy students, something which Harry felt Percy Weasley was enjoying too much. Ron went to follow Percy when Harry grabbed his arm.

“Ron! Hermione - she doesn’t know about the troll.”

Ron swallowed, and then relented

“Fine - but don’t let anyone see us!”

The boys were so busy making sure that they weren’t seen slipping away that they didn’t notice that they weren’tthe only ones who did. To their utmost surprise, when they reached the bathroom Draco Malfoy was already there, calling out to Hermione.

“Hermione! There’s a troll in the dungeons and we need to go to the dormitory.” Draco’s normal composure was gone, reducing him to a panicked state. Even though he was taller than Harry, he his wide eyes made him look much younger.

“What’re you playing at, Malfoy?” Ron snapped.

Draco glared at him, but didn’t reply, instead electing to knock on the toilet stall door. “Hermione!” He cried.

It was too late, however, as the stench of the troll filled the air. The boys turned around to see a six-foot mountain troll standing at the doorway, and they screamed.

They ran into the nearest bathroom stall, the three of them squished into one. Harry’s cheeks heated from the terror, as they heard the troll smash a sink with its club. The troll then smacked the end two stalls, and the four Gryffindors all ran out.

Hermione was closest to the troll, unluckily for her, and the troll picked her up, holding her by her robes.

“HELP!” She shrieked. “Do something!”

Harry went to run to pounce on the troll, however was pulled back by Draco.

“This isn’t the time to run head first into things, Potter!

Ron pulled his wand out, and pointed it at the troll, yelling at the top of his lungs

“WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!” The spell did nothing.

“Weasley! Swish and flick!” Draco cried. “We learnt this today, you nitwit. Have you already forgotten?”

Ignoring Draco’s taunts, Ron retried the spell, making sure to swish and flick his wand.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” The troll’s club lifted out of its hand, and was being levitated above its head. Ron jerked his wand downwards, and the club hit the troll on the head, causing it to drop Hermione and fall on its back.

Hermione ran over and hugged Draco, Ron and then Harry. Ron began to apologise for his comments from earlier that day, but was interrupted when McGonagall barged into to the bathrooms, closely followed by Dumbledore, a limping Snape, and a jittery Quirrell. Although, Harry supposed, Quirrell was always quite jittery.

“What in Merlin’s name have you four been doing?” McGonagall scolded. Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, but it was Hermione that spoke first.

“Please professor - it was me. I had read about trolls and I thought I could handle it on my own. I was wrong.” She hung her head in shame. “If Draco, Ron, and Harry didn’t come save me, I’d probably be dead.”

“I expected better from you, Miss Granger. Five points for your foolishness. And boys - five points each for sheer dumb luck!”

Harry smiled, but straightened out his face when he saw McGonagall’s stern expression. The four were escorted back to the Gryffindor Tower, leaving Quirrell and Snape behind to deal with the troll.

When they reached the common room, the Feast was still going on. Harry, deciding he wasn’t hungry, went back to the dorm, and was followed by Draco whilst Ron and Hermione remained in order to get some dessert. When they had reached the dorm, Harry apologised to Draco.

“Sorry about what I said about your family,” Harry said meekly.

Draco was about to snap, then his face softened.

“I trusted you with that, Potter, then you went and revealed it to Weasley.”

“I know.” Harry ran a hand through his hair. “Why did you go find Hermione? I thought you would hate her.”

“I did at first, but she’s one of the few Gryffindors capable of civilised conversation. You know, that doesn’t spit food when they talk at the dinner table,” Draco smirked.

Harry knew he was referencing Ron, but didn’t say anything. Draco continued,

“She’s clever, and embarrassingly, helps me with my homework. God knows it should be the other way around, considering she’s a mud- muggleborn.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, trying to think of what to say, “what Ron said today was uncalled for. I know she comes across as a know-it-all, but I think she was just trying to help.” Draco nodded and said,

“I don’t want to hate you, Potter. Weasley maybe,” He laughed. “Truce?” He asked, holding out his arm.

Harry shook the extended hand,

“Truce."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the scene didn't play out the exact same as it does in the books, but I want this to be my own fic rather than something straight out of canon.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry that it's a bit short, but it was heaps fun to write and I can't wait to write more!


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